Genius Fan

Eighteenth Century British Prime Minister No.6

• Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle
  • Life: 21 July, 1693 – 17 November March, 1768 (d. 75)
• Administration (II): 29 June, 1757 – 26 March, 1762
  • Age in office: 63-68 years old
  • Duration of administration: 4 years and 270 days
  • Political faction: Whig
  • Predecessor: Duke of Devonshire
  • Successor: Earl of Bute

Click to read Overview of ‘PMs on the Pan‘

‘PM on the Pan’ Take Aways

• Pitt-Newcastle Ministry: On 29 June, 1757, the Duke of Newcastle was back! Back in the hot seat once again – Prime Minister (as First Lord of the Treasury, to be exact) – but he was there alongside the old strategist William Pitt the Elder. This was George II’s only chance to make a Whig government that would work with him in the way he wanted. He didn’t like either of them, but together they were the best there was. And so it proved.
• 1759 – The Year Britain Became Master of the World: That’s the name of a book by Frank McLynn in which he says the year 1759 may be the most significant date since 1066. This was the second year of the Pitt-Newcastle Ministry – just four years into the Seven Years War (a global war, really) – and McLynn says: “…the British defeated the French in arduous campaigns in India and the West Indies, in Germany and Canada, and also achieved absolute mastery of the seas. In the two greatest battles of 1759 – Quebec and Quiberon – Britain effectively beat France for global supremacy.”
• What was happening at home: During their time working together Newcastle and Pitt’s domestic activities were mostly centred around raising money for the war effort and reassuring the money markets of the certainty of outcome in their strategy. It worked.
• Round Two: Newcastle is the first of three Eighteenth century British Prime Ministers to have had a second, non-consecutive term in office
  • Duke of Newcastle: (I) 1754-1756, (II) 1757-1762
  • Marquess of Rockingham: (I) 1765-1766, (II) 1782
  • William Pitt the Younger: (I) 1783-1801, (II) 1804-1806
  • There have been 13 other PMs to have had non-consecutive terms in office, incl. WE Gladstone, who had 4 separate, non-consecutive terms in office!
• How did it end? Pitt leaves the coalition first, but then George II and Newcastle fall out over their alliance with Prussia. Newcastle resigns.

Check out my PMs on the Pan series of posts

Here’s the full list of Eighteenth century British Prime Ministers. Note there were 16 administrations, but 14 Prime Ministers and that’s because two of them held office twice (Newcastle and Rockingham). Two others held office twice (Portland and Pitt the Younger), but their second terms were in the Nineteenth century. The text in bold highlights the name they’re commonly known by.

1. 1721-1742: Sir Robert Walpole
2. 1742-1743: Spencer Compton, Earl of Wilmington
3. 1743-1754: Henry Pelham
4. 1754-1756: Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle (I)
5. 1756-1757: William Cavendish, 4th Duke of Devonshire
6. 1757-1762: Thomas Pelham-Holles, Duke of Newcastle (II)
7. 1762-1763: John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute
8. 1763-1765: George Grenville
9. 1765-1766: Charles Watson-Wentworth, Marquess of Rockingham (I)
10. 1766-1768: William Pitt the Elder, Earl of Chatham
11. 1768-1770: Augustus Henry FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton
12. 1770-1782: Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford (Lord North)
13. 1782: Charles Watson-Wentworth, Marquess of Rockingham (II)
14. 1782-1783: William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne
15. 1783: William Henry Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland (I)
16. 1783-1801: William Pitt the Younger (I)

Sources for information about the Duke of Newcastle

The Prime Ministers, Iain Dale (2020) (Newcastle article by Jeremy Black)
Newcastle episode of Iain Dale’s Presidents, Prime Ministers, Monarchs and Dictators podcast
1759 – The Year Britain Became Master of the World:, Frank McLynn (2004)
Wikipedia: Duke of Newcastle